South Hampshire Humanists

Humanism for a Better World

"Reason, Observation and Experience – the Holy Trinity of science –have taught us that happiness is the only good; that the time to be happy is now, and the way to be happy is to make others so."Robert Green Ingersoll The Gods 1876

"The world is so exquisite, with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there's little good evidence. Far better, it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides."Carl Saagan, Billions and Billions, 1997

"It is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving, it consists in professing to believe what one does not believe."Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason 1874

"People exist for each other. So either improve them or put up with them."Marcus Aurelius (121-90 CE) Meditations

Humanists believe thatMorality is derived from human experience, knowledge and reason not from divine edict.In common with other life forms, human beings have evolved through a process of natural selection.Our life here is the only one we will ever have.We can lead happy, creative, fulfilling and meaningful lives here on earth.We must take responsibility for our conduct and be concerned for the welfare of life on this planet.Modern Humanism dates from around the middle of the 20th Century but its antecedents go back to ancient times. Humanists often look back for inspiration to the 18th Century Age of Enlightenment and to figures such as Thomas Paine, Mary Wollstonecroft, Voltaire and Rousseau. However, the most seminal event in the development of modern Humanism was the publication in 1859 of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species and his idea of evolution that over time has in principle been substantiated by so much corroborative scientific evidence.South Hampshire Humanists is a partner group of the British Humanist Association (BHA) which among many other things campaigns for an open and equal society in which there are no special privileges for religious groups or organisations. It is also affiliated to the National Secular Society (NSS).Recent opinion polls suggest that around 50% of people in the UK hold humanist beliefs, 60% or more among younger people. Among the many distinguished supporters of Humanism are the scientists Brian Cox, Richard Dawkins and our own chairman Norman Maclean; literary and media people such as Stephen Fry, Philip Pullman, the late Terry Pratchett and Simon Singh, and there’s an all-party humanist group in parliament. Shappi Khorsandi, the comedian and writer, became President of the British Humanist Association in January 2016 in succession to Professor Jim Al-khalili the scientist (see above).See BHA for full information and resources on Humanism with details of the many activities of the British Humanist Association, NSS for the National Secular Society.